More on the Wesfarmers takeover of Coles; the "independent expert report" (see prior discussion here) is in; the offer is apparently not fair, nor reasonable. However, with no realistic prospect of a better offer, the recommendation is for Coles shareholders to accept. Grant Samuel says that the Coles Group is worth $16.21-$18.23 a share (at time of posting this, CGJ is trading at $14.57 (up 6c for the day)). As Matthew Stevens says:
Let's be blunt here: the $930 million gap between the price Wesfarmers will pay and the Grant Samuel valuation is effectively the price Coles shareholders have to surrender to replace the company's crippled management.We'll have a look at how they arrived at that valuation when the document proper is released to the market - hopefully in time for class 11 this semester (when we're discussing takeovers).The fact is, the board has been forced to accept an offer that undervalues Coles by at least $930 million because it has absolutely no other alternative.
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